Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
You could say that “the kill” is the most exciting play in the sport of volleyball. It gets the crowd and a team fired up when a player spikes the ball and an opponent isn’t able to return it before it hits the floor. And no one has executed kills better for Arundel High then senior Brooke Watts. The three-sport athlete racked up more than 200 as both a sophomore and junior.
If the pandemic hadn’t wiped out the 2020 season, Arundel volleyball coach Ashley Yuscavage says Watts would have had an eye-catching place in Wildcats’ sports history books. Watts is that talented. She’ll play volleyball on a scholarship in the fall at Murray State University in Kentucky.
“She would have had the most career kills,” Yuscavage explains. “I don’t like to compare kids to each other, but she is one of the most important players in Arundel volleyball history. She cemented our place in history when we won a (Class 4A) state championship in 2019.
“She put a lot of responsibility on herself to make sure that was the year we did it,” the coach adds. “She certainly took on a lot of the weight.”
One of Watts’ best qualities is her unselfishness. She wasn’t concerned that much about all the kills she amassed— a whopping 650 for her career.
“I really don’t think about those stats,” Watts says of the career kills mark. “I see them and they are pretty cool, but at the end of the day, it’s about wins and losses. Someone could have had more kills than me, but I have a state championship. I couldn’t have asked for much more.”
Watts, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter, finished her sixth year of playing club volleyball in April. She competed the past two years for the Maryland Juniors in Savage.
In addition to Murray, Northern Colorado and Morgan State also aggressively recruited Watts. “They [Murray] have a really strong volleyball program, and I really connected with the coaches and the culture of the team,” she says, explaining why she chose the Racers. “The coaching staff did a lot of research when they were recruiting me. She (assistant coach Alison Hrusovsky) watched a lot of film on me. She knew a lot about my hometown before we even talked. That told me she really cared.”
Watts’ approach to training changed in the winter once she knew she’d be playing for the Racers in the fall. Her schedule included three-plus hours of club volleyball and workouts at LiveNow Fitness in Elkridge.
“I always took my workouts seriously,” Watts says. “But now I am working out at a new level because I will be playing at the highest level in college.”
Watts’ junior year was her best. She led the team in kills (324), ranked second in digs (176), and third in aces (44). She played some of the best volleyball of her career in the run up to the state title.
Watts recorded 18 kills, nine digs, and three aces in a state semifinal, four-set win over Winston Churchill. Then in the state final, she totaled a team-high 16 kills and 16 digs in a five-set conquest of Broadneck.
“Her ability to carry people emotionally and motivate them was a big part of the success we had,” Yuscavage says. “She brought a lot of energy to games and practices. She is out there every day pushing herself and that sets an example for the team.”
Watts also excelled in two other sports at Arundel. She started for the girls’ varsity basketball team for two years before running indoor track as a junior. She competed on the track and field team as a freshman and sophomore.
Watts wasn’t just a track participant, she won county championships in the long and triple jump while finishing second in the state in the high jump.
“I am sure that she could have gone on to compete in college,” Yuscavage says of her track performances. “She is quick, athletic, and takes directions well. She could do any sport, but she has really poured her heart into being a really good volleyball player.”
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